


Funerals and Curses

by inabsurd



Series: natsu-gem [1]
Category: Natsume Yuujinchou | Natsume's Book of Friends
Genre: Alternate Universe - Crystal Gems (Steven Universe), Child Neglect, Gen, Hallucinations, Past Character Death, Recovered Memories, Self-Esteem Issues
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-07
Updated: 2021-02-07
Packaged: 2021-03-13 04:20:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 711
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29272371
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/inabsurd/pseuds/inabsurd
Summary: Takashi misses his dad, but the memories grow foggy as the years go on. His memories of his mother do not.
Series: natsu-gem [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2117745
Kudos: 17





	Funerals and Curses

**Author's Note:**

> I meant for this to be longer but the other half of this prompt ties in too well with something I have planned later on so alas, have a wee baby fic

Takashi was a baby when he went to his mother’s funeral. He doesn’t remember a thing about it, but he remembers his father telling him, years later, that he wishes more people had been there. Takashi hadn’t understood at the time but he’s bigger now and the new family he’s with talk.

They say his mom had no friends. They say his father was a fool for falling for such a strange woman. They say his mother was cursed, and so is Takashi.

He doesn’t really understand what it means to be cursed, but it must have something to do with the rock in his hand. His mother had it too, people say that that’s what made her so strange, so that must be why he’s strange too.

_ Is that why no one likes me? _

He thought so for a while, but he soon learns that he is also a troublesome child. Whether he is that way because of the cursed stone or because he is just bad, he doesn’t know. The adults around him have different opinions on what it is, but one thing is certain; he is too much work to keep around.

Takashi’s father died when he was four, and he remembers that funeral. He remembers holding the hand of his father’s cousin while she complained to her friend about having to watch Takashi until they figured out where to put him. Her house was the first of a long stream of impermanent homes where they could not feed him, could not watch him, could not love him the way his father had.

He misses his dad, but the memories grow foggy as the years go on. His memories of his mother do not.

He is staying with an elderly gentleman when he first realizes that this is strange.

The old man is kind, but he cannot do much on his own. Takashi is big enough to carry a pot of water and climb carefully onto a chair without spilling, big enough to light the burner without letting the gas run too long, so he cooks rice for his new caretaker.

It troubles the man the first time Takashi does it so much so that he climbs out of the bed even though it hurts just so he can supervise.

“Where did you learn to cook, Takashi-kun?” the man asks, peering at him with watery eyes.

Takashi beams, “My mom showed me!”

Takashi’s mother died when he was a baby, he  _ knows  _ this, it just never struck him as odd that he remembers her anyway. His mother, he’s seen, always burns her rice because she gets distracted, so Takashi learns to watch the pot carefully and practices counting big numbers to time it because he does not know how to set a timer.

The old man does not see it this way. He frowns slightly at Takashi and says, “Takashi-kun, your mother has been gone for a very long time.”

The child nods along. “Yes,” he agrees, “But she taught me to use the stove anyway.”

His caretaker chuckles nervously. “Aren’t you getting a bit big for imaginary friends?”

Takashi frowns. “I don’t have imaginary friends. It’s my mom.”

The old man, he learns later, is superstitious and that is why he was sent away. He stops talking about his mother, but that doesn’t mean he stops  _ seeing  _ her.

She’s by his side on warm days, commenting on how nice the sun feels here compared to back home. She’s hiding in the tree with him, hiding from bullies, some type of bat in hand. Sometimes, she yells from somewhere out-of-view and Takashi cannot suppress a yelp of surprise.

Takashi is weird. He is an attention seeker. He is a liar when he tells the truth and a liar for real when he learns not to.

He is lonely, and so was his mother.

When he is nine, he starts thinking that loneliness might be the real curse to plague them. When he is not much older than that, he wonders if there will be many people at his own funeral, or if someone down the line will comment on how empty it was, too.

_ At least,  _ he thinks,  _ No one will carry on Mom’s curse when I’m gone. _

**Author's Note:**

> thanks for reading! comments and kudos are forever and always appreciated!
> 
> you can follow me on [Twitter](https://twitter.com/inabsurd) and [Tumblr](https://inabsurd.tumblr.com/) where I sometimes say stuff


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